President Obama again attacked the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission as he announced his pick of Elena Kagan, and the conservative group at the center of the case is firing back.

In remarks today, Obama applauded Kagan's choice as Solicitor General to make the case her first argument, which he claimed "says a great deal not just about Elena's tenacity but about her commitment to serving the American people." Citizens United responded by urging "the Senate to reject Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court."

"Every American has a fundamental right to speak out for or against their elected representatives without fear of reprisal, and a nominee who does not respect that right has no business on our nation's highest court," said the group's president, David Bossie, in a statement released after the announcement. Obama famously derided the court's decision during his State of the Union, when Justice Samuel Alito seemed to shake his head in disagreement with the president's interpretation of the ruling.

Obama's decision to underscore Kagan's involvement of the controversial case, which lifted the ban on corporate spending in elections, indicates to Citizens United that Kagan's "participation in that case was a significant factor in his decision to nominate her to the Supreme Court," writes Bossie. Obama's statements today and when Justice John Paul Stevens stepped down infers "that, as a political matter, Obama wants to make this senate confirmation fight partly about corporate power in a democracy and Citizens United," argues University of Nebraska law professor Marvin Ammori, a legal scholar and expert in cyberlaw, who has questioned Kagan's argument in the case.

Spokesman Will Holley did not respond to questions about whether Citizens United would campaign against Kagan's confirmation.